Moon
by AnneLaurant
Summary: "Your beauty exceeds that of the moon and comes back down to Earth, to me." On the night of Valentine's, Cedric meets Orube outside the bookshop and asks her for a dance. (Inspired by Juan Karlos' "Buwan".)


The original song was poetic in a way, but it only used simple words. Mirroring that in English proved to be difficult, so here's a poetic fic with plot.

* * *

Cedric welcomed a particularly quiet night on a day notorious for being noisy - Valentine's Day. He waltzed out of Ye Olde, out into the street, and gazed up the night sky only illuminated by the stars and the moon.

"Oh. Hello."

A familiar voice enthralled his eyes off the sky, and Cedric's lips glided into a smile when his eyes fell upon a very welcome existence. "Good evening, Orube," he greeted, "Pray tell, are you lonely tonight?"

He reached for her, and she took a few steps back.

"...no, I don't think so," she answered. "I'm only out for a walk."

And walk she did. Orube backed against a wall, under a white lamplight.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Hmm." Cedric shrugged. "Basking in the so-called season of romance, I think."

She took a few steps forward, allowing Cedric to finally touch her. He grinned. He reached for a few strands of hair and tucked them behind her ear. She seemed like a goddess basking in the light.

Orube's eyes fluttered close. Red tinged her cheeks. "Don't fool me into thinking of wild, outlandish ideas."

"You need not worry about such things."

Cedric's hand travelled down her arm, until her hand was in his. She was cold, and he knew she appreciated the warmth - she tugged on his hand and squeezed it.

"Well, since you're already here," Cedric proposed, "Would you like to dance?"

"I-if it's about the dance you people do, during parties and celebrations and... promenades..."

"Don't be shy, dear Orube. I will lead the dance."

"...I don't know how."

Orube's voice was so soft. Had Cedric not been standing in front of her, he wouldn't have heard it.

He released her hand and poked her nose, and her eyes snapped open in annoyance. She protested; she demanded he respect her for she was an honorable warrior of Kandrakar, but he only smirked back.

"You're taking things a little too seriously, woman."

"Then, don't touch me so familiarly, you snake."

"You let me hold your hand."

"I-I was cold and you are warm, oddly so! For a snake like you!"

"I'm not a snake if I can't even shift back to the form that reflects my soul."

Orube let out several expletives. Such flowery language for such pouty, full lips.

Cedric took several steps backwards and opened his arms in flair. "So, you rejected my offer of a dance."

"I did." Orube's golden eyes had fire in them, and he could tell she was forcing herself to look at him.

Cedric turned his head towards his bookshop, though he kept his gaze on her. "Are you sure that's what you want to do?"

Orube frowned, though she tipped her head, most likely considering her options.

"This isn't a trick, is it?"

"No, not at all." Cedric shrugged.

"...fine. Then teach me."

Slightly averting his gaze towards her, Cedric held his hand out. She took it warily, but she allowed herself to be pulled into a loose embrace.

"Do we really need to be this close?"

"Even closer, if you can manage."

"T-that's...! You pervert!"

"Too intimate, mighty warrior?"

It was then Cedric noticed that Orube was staring at him, staring so bravely into his eyes. He let himself stare back into those piercing golden orbs of hers.

"...you're warm," she mutters, "Too warm for a snake."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"Be thankful I'm in a good mood tonight, snake."

So the beautiful warrior said, and Cedric took that as a cue to tighten their embrace a little. Her cheeks reddened and he heard, felt her fast heartbeat.

"S-so, will you show me or not?"

Ah. Orube, the ever-impatient one.

Cedric whispered in her ear, "Patience. Dances are, in fact, a way to court people."

"C-courting...?!"

"You're right. It is intimate. It looks intimate. You stand close together, like this, and it gives you a chance to have a private conversation in the middle of a public party."

Orube nodded, but he doubted if she actually understood it. She like straightforward questions and answers.

"...so... the actual dancing..."

"The actual dancing, that depends on the occasion, and... how heavy your clothes are."

Cedric started swaying their bodies to a rhythm in his mind.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Swaying to the rhythm."

"What rhythm?"

"You usually dance to music, but there isn't any here today. Try to think of any song."

"...I can't imagine. How would this pacing fit any song?"

Surprising. How would Orube not know any kind of music fitting for a dance between couples? Was her culture not appreciative of the various art forms?

"You look so flabbergasted, Lord Cedric."

Cedric blinked once, twice. Should he introduce her to the art? "...should I sing?"

Orube flushed and turned her head away. "That won't be necessary!"

"Oh, yes it is. If you can't follow a rhythm-"

"I can try to do that without music, thank you!"

"Alright, if you say so."

So he said, but he chuckled at how Orube refused to be, say, charmed by him any more than this.

"...as I was saying," Cedric continued with his lesson, "The dance varies on the occasion and the weight of your dress. Dancing like this, for instance, indicates the affair being a little more casual."

"And that would mean...?"

"Dances with friends."

"Oh."

"Or family, or acquaintance. I imagine it's quite different for you."

Orube shook her head.

"No? Not so different?"

"D-don't try to distract me."

Oh. She always had that wall around her. Cedric loved making attemps to scale that wall, because she hated listening to his attempts at companionship.

"And the more formal one, dear Orube-" He stopped swaying them. "-involves holding hands and shoulders or waists."

"Eh?"

Cedric took one of Orube's hands and anchored it against his shoulder. The other one, he held gingerly in his own hand as he placed his other hand on her waist.

"HEY!" And Orube was clearly annoyed, even with her cheeks so red.

Cedric rolled his eyes. "This is really how it's done."

"It feels... weird..."

"By weird, do you mean romantic?"

Orube stepped on his foot and Cedric bit a yelp back.

"I-I think I have the gist of it, you snake."

She gently pushed him away, but he tried to keep his hold on her.

"Wait, let me just... teach you one last thing."

"Then stop teasing me!"

"I will."

Cedric waited for Orube to hold him herself and adjust to the sensations. She squeezed his hand a few times, and felt along his shoulder, as if testing it for support. It was... endearing, in a way. She trusted him enough and allowed their bodies to touch.

"...I'm ready."

"Alright. In dances, you either lead, or follow the lead. In this case, I lead."

"How so?"

"I hold your hand in my right hand. I can stir better that way. And I am aware this isn't very friendly for the left-handed."

"...right."

"And that means if I take a step backward with my right..." Cedric did as he said. "I expect you to take a step forward with your left."

Orube tipped her head, but she followed suit anyway.

"Now I'll take a step backward with my left. And you..."

"Take a step forward with my right."

"Brava."

Orube's lips curved into a sweet smile. "...I want to try it."

"Do you want to try leading?"

"...no. I just want to... get a feel of it. For now, at least."

_/ I am yours and you are mine /_

Gently, so gently, Cedric pulled her into a more proper dance. A tender moment like this called for cautiousness - he shut his mouth, and he listened to the imaginary music, the imaginary song.

And Orube, her smile, her graceful smile. She delighted herself in his artful embrace. He found her lovely, admittedly so.

...this was just him, Cedric, wanting to fulfill a wicked part of himself. Praising her beauty and trying to find meaning in it; fancying himself to be less lonely next to her.

_/ Won't you come beside me? /_

Step, step, stepping they went; the silence punctuated only with the clack, clack, clacking of their shoes and the comfortable rhythm of their breathing in, out, in, out. They swayed under the white lamplight, under the pale, yellow moon.

"I don't understand," he murmured.

"Hm?"

He enjoyed it. He enjoyed the music of this simplicity, when he was one for flamboyance and flair.

_/ Please listen to my heartsong /_

It made him feel happy, despite, similar to the feeling of finding puzzle pieces that fit. No, they were simply puzzle pieces that only look like they fit. He wanted to shape her into the emptiness and longing for companionship dictating his worst actions.

His thoughts fit the music in his mind. Morbid. Obsessive. Sickening. He had desires of keeping her, the way he'd hoard books and shelf them, thinking "I'll read it later, I'll read it when I have time." But oh, did he ever have time to do so? He'd acquired so many, but how pleasing it was to simply have them as he grew older and more fragile by the day!

_/ Let's lie down together, anywhere /_

Pray tell, dear deities of his homeland, what did Orube think of to have such a serene smile on her face?

Did he want to steal that smile and make it his own? Did he want to wipe that off himself and watch her succumb to him?

And in a moment, she was spinning about, twirling and enjoying the way fabric and hair spun along with her actions. The pair went spinning about, their steps gaining speed and twirling to a different tempo. Hands clasped; hands supported. They were in a ballroom, dancing madly to the orchestral music beckoning them to dance, dance, dance! Mad fools, mad games!

And in a moment of weakness and total immersion, Cedric dipped her, and their faces came close. Their breaths mingled even as he tried to stop himself from drawing way too close and mixing his own eyes with her surprised golden irises. Their lips almost touched - oh, how thankful Cedric was, a word and situation like "almost" existed!

And in a moment, the magic was lost. Orube disentangled herself from him, face red as blood, breath heavy and labored and visible in the cold. Too visible, Cedric noted, but perhaps he'd been focused on his own breath?

"...I need to go." The words danced off Orube's lips as if she'd gasped. "I... we won't speak of this."

Cedric watched her run away, like the pathetic fool he was. He'd lost himself yet again, and all he's left with was shame and regret. Had he not done that, had he not gotten ahead of himself...

What did he want from her? Why did he pant like a beast? Why did the emptiness feel even more unbearable now, more than before?

Cedric slumped and slid against the wall.

Beautiful. He thought she was beautiful. Ethereally beautiful. Her face, her golden eyes, her innocence.

His heartbeat was inconveniently fast. _Calm down_, he told himself. _Calm down, calm down..._

The beating of this human heart was maddening, and it felt so hot, so hot! He couldn't breathe! It was unbearable! How he wished Orube was still here with him, so he could ask her and she could answer things for him! How wistful! How wistful! Why did the universe bring them together like this?!

He.

He wanted her. He wanted her to feel these damned emotions he was not supposed to be feeling.

"Come back..." he pleaded into the darkness only illuminated by lampposts, "_Please._"

Under the pale moonlight, he suffered. He suffered incessantly, unnecessarily. Neither silence, nor knowledge, nor power, could answer him. Only Orube. Only her.

Beautiful, and mysterious, and untouchable. Much like the moon.


End file.
